Friday
Jun222012
Ana Jofre
did you ever see
electromagnetic waves
vibrating atoms?
Ana Jofre is an artist and physicist at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, USA
Haiku for an electromagnetic wave
Image: Mike Tarbutt, roses in Brighton
Here, physicists and a few others reveal the many ways we think of the electromagnetic wave - this phenomenon that is ubiquitous, but so abstractly understood.
At the ancient pond
a frog plunges into
the sound of water
- Matsuo BashÅ (1644 - 1694)
Haiku are the world's shortest poems, usually consisting of less than 17 syllables and arranged in a sequence approximating to 5-7-5. They have their origins in 12th century Japan. In all their brevity, haiku tell a story and paint a vivid picture, leaving it up to the audience to complete them in their mind's eye. A great haiku presents a crystalline moment of image, emotion, and awareness. Elements of compassion, silence, and a sense of temporality can be combined to reveal a quality of mystery. Haiku often contain a hidden dualism - the near and the far, the past and present, sound and silence, temporality, and eternity and also have a seasonal tie-in, as well as specific word-images that reveal deeper layers. The haiku format bears resemblance to an equation with its compact and formal structure capable of capturing an infinite world of experience.
Friday
Jun222012
Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen
Empty space
Electrowave
Empty space empty nowhere
Massive tree
My way blocked
Electrowave indifferent
Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen Professor of Mathematical Physics, Department of Mathematics and Complexity & Networks Group, Imperial College London